Shakespeare's 'Pericles' comes to Kenilworth Aug. 14

King Pericles of Tyre (Lawrence James) goes on a road trip through far flung Mediterranean locales to reunite with his wife Thaisa (Lisa LaGrande, left) and Marina (Morgan Patton) in Hudson Shakepseare Company’s production of ‘Pericles.’

A wandering king looking for love and family, a jousting tournament for a princess’ hand, Greek dances, bold assassins, goofy pirates, and a visit to a down on its luck brothel with a dash of divine intervention punctuate Hudson Shakespeare Company’s production of “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” by William Shakespeare and George Wilkens.

The final installment in their 23rd season of traveling Shakespeare in the parks program directed by Noelle Fair and will be performing on Thursday, Aug. 14, at 7:30 p.m., at the Kenilworth Public Library, 548 Boulevard, Kenilworth.

The production is the final installment of the 11th annual “Bard on the Boulevard” series at Kenilworth Library.

Shakespeare’s great adventure story is about the King of Tyre who travels to exotic lands in search of a bride and the unexpected turns of fate which steers his life in remarkable ways. “Pericles” is full of exotic locales and provides a visual feast for the audience as we sail from coast to coast meeting an eclectic cast of characters. “Pericles” is full of murder plots, jousting knights, belly dancing, magic, love, loss, hope – and – most of all – pirates.
Written in 1607-8, “Pericles, the Prince of Tyre,” marked a departure for Shakespeare.

After several years of writing the great tragedies like “Macbeth” and “King Lear,” he dabbled in a new style of mixing comedy and tragedy together, usually with a mix of divine intervention and a journey that would dominate the rest of his writing career.

The new style has come to be known as his “Romances” of which “The Tempest” is a part.

“Pericles” holds two distinctions that set it apart from other Shakespeare plays. First it was not originally published in the collection of his works known as the First Folio. For years it was a disputed work but was finally accepted into his cannon of accepted work. Secondly, it was written in collaboration with another writer named George Wilkens, who moonlighted as a brothel owner. This fact, obviously, adds a level of authenticity to the brothel scenes late in the play.

Published in 1609 in a cheap volume known as a “quarto”, the text was cobbled together from recollections of actors who had appeared in productions, leading to a difficult text to work from. This is perhaps one of the reasons it was left out of the First Folio.

The play is free to the public and family friendly. Patrons are encouraged to sign up with Kenilworth Library as seating is limited.